Atheists & Agnostics

Xipe Totec

(43,890 posts)

1. It is a phenomenon that has been studied

Sat Sep 22, 2018, 02:38 PM

Sep 2018

When Prophecy Fails: A Social and Psychological Study of a Modern Group That Predicted the Destruction of the World is a classic work of social psychology by Leon Festinger, Henry Riecken, and Stanley Schachter which studied a small UFO religion in Chicago called the Seekers that believed in an imminent apocalypse and its coping mechanisms after the event did not occur. Festinger's theory of cognitive dissonance can account for the psychological consequences of disconfirmed expectations. One of the first published cases of dissonance was reported in this book.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/When_Prophecy_Fails

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I'm surprised at how difficult it is for skeptics to release faith. [View all] lindysalsagal Sep 2018 OP

It is a phenomenon that has been studied Xipe Totec Sep 2018 #1

Thanks! People choose delusion. Wow. lindysalsagal Sep 2018 #2

Fear of the unknown. WhiteTara Sep 2018 #3

Eternal childhood dependency. lindysalsagal Sep 2018 #4

I never heard that term before WhiteTara Sep 2018 #5

For those in my family, church is more like a social club. procon Sep 2018 #6

The teachings of Jesus are currently incompatible with American society. Tobin S. Sep 2018 #7

I found ex-Theists needing to share their trauma marginlized Sep 2018 #8